Position sensors are utilized in many different applications, including in engines and other components of aeronautical, marine, and industrial applications. Such engines and components can include, for example, linear voltage differential transducers (LVDTs) and other types of transducers, such as rotary voltage differential transducers (RVDTs). Such transducers are coupled to actuators, and provide a voltage signal proportional to a designated position of the actuator; e.g., a position of a ram of the actuator.
To detect faults in a transducer, a test can be performed on a range of sums of secondary voltages from the transducer. A range test also can be performed on a sensed position to verify signal integrity. The limits of the range test may be set wide enough to account for all worse-case system variations so that a properly operating transducer is not improperly identified as being faulty. Wide range limits result in only detecting relatively extreme faults; e.g., faults due to electrical open circuits or short circuits.